Relatives of 14 soldiers killed in Nimrod crash played last cockpit recording

By MATTHEW HICKLEY

Last updated at 19:48 12 May 2008

A cockpit tape recording of the last moments of a doomed RAF spyplane which exploded above Afghanistan killing all 14 men aboard has been played at the inquest.

As flames spread through the Nimrod jet's fuel system and the full scale of the emergency becomes clear, the crew are heard responding calmly and professionally, performing drills to try to locate and extinguish the fire while attempting to land at the nearest useable airfield.

A Harrier jump jet pilot also told the hearing at Oxford how he abandoned his mission to shadow the burning spyplane, only to watch it explode in mid-air just a few miles from the base which the crew were trying to reach.

The destruction of the ageing Nimrod XV230 in September 2006 marked the worst single loss of life for Britain's armed forces since the 1982 Falklands War.

The RAF's internal board of inquiry blamed the tragedy on a fuel leak, and bereaved relatives have accused the RAF of negligence in their handling of the elderly fleet of aircraft, which had been plagued by similar leaks before the crash.

The cockpit recording played in court yesterday begins as the crew complete a mid-air refuelling operation in the skies above Afghanistan, where they were monitoring the Taliban and providing crucial battlefield intelligence to troops on the ground.

Air Engineer Flight Sergeant Adrian Davies is heard saying: "Yeah, we're full", and seconds later a fire alarm sounds, followed by the engineer saying: "I have a bomb bay fire warning."

Within seconds the Pilot and Captain, 39-year-old Flt Lt Allan Squires, begins issuing orders to the crew to switch on the bomb bay lights and man the periscope which offers a view of the bomb bay.

Twenty-one seconds after the first alarm it becomes clear the emergency is real as a crew member reports: "It's in the rear bay - there's smoke coming from it."

Moments later the captain orders all the crew to don oxygen masks and diverts the Nimrod towards Kandahar Airfield, putting the doomed jet into a descent.

Two attempts to activate fire extinguishers in the engine compartments have no effect.

Within three minutes, the crew report flames from the rear of the engines, and more flames in the bomb bay.

As the fire spreads, Flt Lt Allan remains outwardly calm on the flight deck, quietly requesting the runway heading and weather conditions at Kandahar - now less than 40 miles away.

The tape cuts off abruptly some two minutes before the aircraft exploded, with an unidentified crew member announcing over the intercom: "From the bay, there's more sm..."

Earlier Flt Lt Douglas McKay, who was flying his Harrier strike jet nearby, described how he followed the Nimrod and watched flames coming from two areas on the starboard side as it flew at 3,000ft.

Within moments he saw the spyplane engulfed in a "massive, catastrophic explosion" - a ball of flame stretching over twice the aircraft's 127ft wingspan - some six minutes after the first alarm sounded.

He said the Nimrod was "totally destroyed before it hit the ground", leaving no recognisable pieces of wreckage to fall to earth.

At the start of the inquest last week relatives and lawyers were shown an identical Nimrod which was flown down from its base at RAF Kinloss in Scotland to RAF Brize Norton near Oxford.

But yesterday it emerged that the aircraft they saw was a replacement, as the one intended for use was withdrawn due to fuel leaks.

Coroner Andrew Walker ordered the RAF to establish what had happened, but last night officials were unable to confirm the claim.

Last week an RAF engineer who worked on the Nimrod fleet described finding 'shocking' corrosion in their fuel pipes and dangerous leaks from fuel tanks prior to a tragedy over Afghanistan.

Sergeant Andrew Whitmore told the inquest how he had to cut severely rusted components out of one aircraft with a hacksaw, and that although he reported his concerns no systematic inspection of the rest of the fleet was carried out until after Nimrod XV230 crashed on September 2, 2006.